Whether you are a mother or a father, many of us have embraced the possibilities that exist between running a family and having a full time career. Some of us do this so we will support our family, some for the pleasure related to employment, and for others it is to secure early retirement or powerful economical stability. Whatsoever your reasons for working might be, it is vital to recognize how your day to day work routine not only influences you but also your family.

As a father I appreciate when I get home my son is often excited to see me. He wants to tell me about his day, plans he may have, and may even want to play for a while. While on some days this is fine, but on others I just want to relax. When handling this case I had simply unknowingly created parenting problems by embracing 2 methods of parenting, one way where my son loses and I win, and another way where my son wins and I lose.

A lot of parents like myself have a tendency to play the role of the parent based on daily instances rather than being aware about the parenting method I am making use of and the long-term consequences of that system. On some days after work I am simply exhausted due to heavy traffic, a long work day, or a lack of proper rest and nutrition. When I walk in the door I am looking forward to relaxing for a while when I am suddenly bombarded by attention from my son. While I often cheer interaction, on these days I simply want to be left alone to relax and this increases parenting issues.

My son who wants to communicate is now being shut down by myself who is looking for relaxation. I make reasons to avoid interaction, encourage him to look for alternative leisure and eventually turn towards punishments. While I may be able to rest now, my son is genuinely upset making a situation where he loses and I win.

The other method I have used that has created parenting issues can be seen with the situation where my son wins and I lose. In this situation I am still tired from a long day of work but recognize how excited my son may be to communicate with me. Here I make the choice to skip the possibility for leisure I was so looking forward to and instead take the time to interact with my son playing games, listening to stories or working on homework.

Although I was contented with either one of the methods, I never realized that one of us was always on the receiving end. I never thought about the information that these techniques will teach my son that one person is more significant than the other one. Identifying the parenting issues I may be developing, I made the choice to take benefit of a valuable resource providing parenting guidance. From this source I found a third technique that will lead to a situation where we BOTH win all the time. To be frank, this had never crossed my mind!! A solution which might seem easy now was something I never had thought before.